Chicken Divan was on the menu for dinner tonight. I forgot until this dish was finished cooking, that I had failed MISERABLY the last time I attempted this dish. I vaguely remember telling Travis that I will never attempt it again. Oh well…

The first time, the chicken was almost raw and I have NO IDEA what I did to cause that. This time, everything was cooked but there was SO MUCH liquid that it was kind of nasty to look at and there really wasn’t a “good” sauce.

Here is what I did:
1. Steamed a head of broccoli
2. Diced chicken
3. Layered broccoli, then chicken, in a 9×13 dish
4. Combine 2 cream of chicken soups with 1 cup of mayo, 1 TBSP lemon juice, and 1 tsp of curry powder
5. Pour the soup/mayo/etc. mixture on top of everything else
6. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes
7. Spread a layer of cheese on top and bake for 5 more minutes.

I wish I had taken a picture of the dish in the casserole instead of it just plated.

From September 2010


The above picture does not show the MASSIVE amount of liquid present in the casserole when I scooped some out. I am under the impression that the sauce for chicken divan should be thicker than what mine was. It has been over 2 years since I had it in a restaurant though.

Anyway, my question is… what can I do to reduce the liquid or is this normal for chicken divan?

Travis’ thought is to not cook rice and, instead, layer dry spaghetti noodles on the bottom of the dish before adding the broccoli, chicken, soup, etc. He thinks that the spaghetti would cook in the liquid that is created while this cooks thus absorbing a lot of the liquid. It sounds good to me! Anybody else tried this or have a way to prevent all the liquid? Please let me know.

Steph